थिंक ग्लोबलचा अभिनेते स्व. सदाशिव अमरापूरकर गौरव पुरस्कार मकरंद अनासपुरे, विशाल सोळंकी, शेखर गायकवाड यांना जाहीर - थिंक ग्लोबल फाउंडेशनचे अध्यक्ष किरण काळे यांची पत्रकार परिषदेत घोषणा
बातमी/व्हिडीओ पाहण्यासाठी खालील लिंकवर क्लिक करा..⬇
Friday, December 13, 2019
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Monday, December 2, 2019
Published News : Explained: Why sugar crushing season operations in Maharashtra may never be the same
Starting this season, officers of the Sugar Commissionerate will publish Harvesting and Transportation (HnT) charges of individual mills in an area. How it will impact the millers and why are they apprehensive?
Maharashtra Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad has introduced two crucial changes during the crushing season of 2019-20, and both of them are expected to change the way the industry functions. While millers have expressed strong reservations about the changes, some of them feel the move will help streamline the payment system for farmers.
* Farmers can transport their own cane
* Mills have to make harvesting and transportation costs public
Starting this season, officers of the Sugar Commissionerate will publish Harvesting and Transportation (HnT) charges of individual mills in an area. The list will have the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) net after deducting the HnT of individual mills, which is the real cane payment received by farmers after selling their produce to those mills. Farmers will also be allowed to harvest and transport their own cane. Seemingly simple, these changes have serious implications for both cane growers and millers.
Unlike their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh, mills in Maharashtra arrange for harvesting and transportation of cane from the farmers’ fields till the mill gate. Based on the date of planting of cane, mills draw up their harvesting calender to ensure the availability of cane across the season to maximise their operations. Once the season starts, the harvesting staff adheres to the calendar and transports harvested cane to the mills.
In lieu of this service, mills deduct the HnT charges from the final cane payment to the farmers. On an average the charges in Maharashtra are around Rs 550-600 per tonne of harvested cane. The state’s average recovery (ratio of sugar produced to cane crushed expressed as a percentage) is 11.24, and the FRP (for the current season, Rs 2,750 at base recovery of 10 per cent) works out to Rs 3,100 per tonne. So, average realisation for farmers who sell their cane to mills, with an average recovery of 11.24 per cent, works out to be Rs 2,550 per tonne.
The current system seems to be working out in favour of both millers and farmers. The farmer doesn’t have to bother about transporting the cane while the mills are ensured quality harvested material for their operations. The harvesting is done by migrant workers who travel to the mills at the beginning of the season and leave once it is over. In case the harvested cane is mixed with other non-sucrose items such as leaves, mills report a dip in the sugar recovery. One of the main reasons why Maharashtra’s sugar recovery is higher than that of Uttar Pradesh is because the mills arrange for harvesting and transportation of cane.
A closer look at the current system, however, highlights some deficiencies. The decision of the mill to levy average HnT charges may be advantageous to some farmers, but it works out against other farmers. On an average, mills procure cane from within a radius of 50-60 km around them. For farmers whose fields are further away from the mills, the transportation of cane is an advantage, but not so much for farms closer to the mills, which can transport the cane and save the HnT charges.
But HnT charges for mills in Solapur, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Marathwada, which account for around 40 per cent of the state’s total sugar production, have started charging HnT in the range of Rs 800-900 per tonne, which is a substantial amount of the total earnings of the farmers. These mills, meanwhile, cite the extra distance they have to cover to procure enough cane to justify higher HnT charges.
But farmer leaders and organisations have alleged that the millers are inflating the HnT charges and going out of their way to favour relatives, friends and supporters of the mill directors, whose fields are located further away. The issue had led to multiple complaints in earlier crushing seasons, and the then sugar commissioner had asked the Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation to decide on a formula to address this problem.
The Federation had asked district collectors to submit details of transportation charges in slabs of 25 km (0-25/ 25-50 etc) to help them formulate the charges. But the exercise was not very successful as collectors had failed to provide the necessary details. The sugar commissioner finally decided to announce distance-based HnT charges, which was challenged by the Federation.
The commissioner has decided to make the HnT charges of mills public and also allow farmers to harvest and transport their own cane. The commissioner is hopeful that making the HnT charges public will help farmers choose which mill to sell their cane to, and where their realisation will be maximum as mills will not deduct the HnT charges in such cases.
This move may also help build up pressure on mills to streamline their HnT charges and avoid procuring cane from financially unaviable distances.
But millers have said the process will have operational hurdles and expressed doubts about the farmers’ ability to arrange for harvesters and transportation of cane. They fear that this will eventually affect the sugar recovery of mills. Millers have also pointed out that the current system has been in place for a long time and cautioned that any bid to change it may backfire.
Friday, November 22, 2019
News Published : 22 नोव्हेंबरपासून राज्यात साखर कारखान्यांचा ऊस गळीत हंगाम
साखर संघाची बैठक राज्यपाल भगतसिंह कोश्यारी यांच्याशी प्रश्नांवर चर्चा
हिंगोली : राज्यात ता. २२ नोव्हेंबरपासून ऊस गळीत हंगामाला सुरवात होणार असून या संदर्भातील निर्णय राज्यपाल भगतसिंह कोश्यारी यांच्या उपस्थितीत राज्य साखर संघाच्या बैठकीत मंगळवारी (ता.१९) घेण्यात आला आहे. याबैठकीत राज्यातील साखर कारखान्यांच्या प्रश्नावरही चर्चा झाली आहे.
राज्यात सहकारी तत्वावर चालणारे १०२ साखर कारखाने असून ९३ खासगी साखर कारखाने आहेत. यावर्षी १६३ कारखान्यांनी ऊस गाळपाची परवानगी मागितली आहे. मात्र दुष्काळी परिस्थितीमुळे साखर कारखान्यांना गाळपासाठी ऊस मिळणेच कठीण आहे. मागील वर्षी या कारखान्यांना गाळपासाठी एक हजार लाख टन ऊस मिळाला होता. मात्र या वर्षी केवळ साडेपाचशे लाख टन उस गाळपासाठी मिळणार आहेत. त्यामुळे सुमारे दीडशे कारखान्यांना ऊस गाळपाची परवानगी मिळणार असल्याची शक्यता सूत्रांनी व्यक्त केली आहे.
दरम्यान, कारखान्यांच्या ऊस गाळपासंदर्भातील निर्णय मंत्री समितीच्या बैठकीत घेतले जातात. मात्र यावेळी मंत्री समिती नसल्यामुळे राज्यपाल भगतसिंह कोश्यारी यांच्याकडे राज्य साखर संघाने पत्र दिले होते. त्यानुसार मंगळवारी राजभवनात राज्यपाल कोश्यारी यांच्या उपस्थितीत बैठक झाली. यावेळी राज्य साखर संघाचे अध्यक्ष जयप्रकाश दांडेगावकर, कार्यकारी संचालक संजय खताळ, राज्य सहकारी बँकेचे अध्यक्ष विद्याधर अनासकर, अजित देशमुख यांच्यासह इतर मान्यवरांची उपस्थिती होती.
याबैठकीत राज्यातील गळीत हंगाम ता. २२ नोव्हेंबरपासून सुरू करण्याचा निर्णय घेण्यात आला आहे. यावेळी श्री. दांडेगावकर यांनी राज्यातील साखर कारखान्यांच्या अडचणीचे मुद्दे मांडले. मागील वर्षी केंद्राच्या धोरणानुसार साखर निर्यातीचे तेराशे कोटी रुपये अद्यापही येणे बाकी आहे. तसेच राज्य शासनाकडून कारखान्याच्या सॉफ्ट लोनचे तीन वर्षांचे थकीत असलेले सुमारे नऊशे कोटी रुपयांचे व्याज मिळावे अशी अपेक्षा व्यक्त केली. यावेळी राज्यपाल श्री. कोश्यारी यांनी या संदर्भातील प्रश्न नवीन सरकारच हाताळेल, असे सांगितले.
८० ते शंभर दिवस चालणार गाळप
राज्यात यावर्षी दुष्काळी परिस्थितीमुळे साखर कारखान्यांना गाळपासाठी ऊस मिळणे कठीण आहे. त्याचा परिणाम गळीत हंगामावर होणार असून यावर्षी केवळ ८० ते शंभर दिवसच ऊस गाळप करता येणे शक्य होणार आहे. जयप्रकाश दांडेगावकर, अध्यक्ष, राज्य साखर संघ
News Published : Maharashtra gets Governor’s nod to start sugar season from Nov 22
Maharashtra sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad had recommended that crushing may begin on November 25 but Koshiyari advanced the date by three days after he held a meeting with sugar millers.
Maharashtra’s sugar season will commence from November 22 with governor BS Koshiyari on Tuesday giving the green signal for start of cane crushing. Due to the President’s rule in the state, this is probably the first time that the decision on the commencement of the crushing season has been taken by the governor.
Maharashtra sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad had recommended that crushing may begin on November 25 but Koshiyari advanced the date by three days after he held a meeting with sugar millers.
The season is already delayed by a month due to unseasonal rains which flooded cane fields. It is expected to last 70-90 days against the average of 120 days.
In view of government guarantees and share capital given to sugar factories, the governor has also approved that 50% per quintal should be tagged and given back as recovery to the government, the commissioner said.
Sanjay Khatal, MD, Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, who was present for the meeting, said that several demands were placed before the government including restructuring of millers’ loans.
Khatal pointed out that banks have expressed their inability to fund pre-seasonal loans to sugar factories on the grounds that the sectoral exposure limit was over. Applications of 70-75 factories for pre-seasonal loans have not been approved, he said. Millers have also sought Rs 350 per tonne as recovery due to the losses caused because of rains. The governor suggested that these issues should be placed before ministers after the new government is formed in the state, he said.
During the meeting, sugar mill owners sought a reduction in their contribution to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, he said. One of the main sources of cash flow for the CM’s Relief Fund is a Rs 4 cess on every quintal of sugarcane crushed by sugar factories. The cess generates Rs 25 crore every year. However, with sugar factories themselves facing distress, their contributions have been slow in coming.
As per government estimates, a 45% fall in sugar output is on the cards. The drought in Marathwada last year and floods in the sugar belt of western Maharashtra in July-August led to a drop from 107 lakh tonne last year to 58 lakh tonne this year.
Gaikwad, in a presentation made before the governor, stated that the sugar stock in hand is currently to the tune of 70 lakh tonne. The state needs around 35 lakh tonne for domestic consumption, he added.
This season, cane grown on 8.32 lakh hectare is expected to be crushed to produce 58.23 lakh tonne of the sweetener. Gaikwad estimated that 162 mills would crush 570 lakh tonne cane. Last season, 195 mills crushed 952.60 lakh tonne cane, producing 107.1 lakh tonne of sugar, the maximum amount ever produced in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile the Western India Sugar Millers Association (WISMA) has sent a protest letter to the government questioning why they were not invited to the meeting between millers, officials and governor. WISMA president BB Thombare pointed out that no invite was sent to the association and they were told that a protocol is to be followed for a meeting with the governor.
WISMA has been part of such meetings for the last four years and private mills contribute 50% to the state’s sugar output, he said.
Farmer groups are demanding a hike in the price paid to them by millers. The fair and remunerative price (FRP) is Rs 2,750 per tonne and we are seeking compensation over and above the FRP as farmers have suffered losses due to floods, said Swabhimaani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS) founder Raju Shetti.
The sugar industry is demanding that factories be allowed to pay the government-controlled FRP in three instalments, a request rejected by the SSS that is not letting crushing operations begin in Kolhapur. Khatal said that farmer bodies and farmers should take a lenient view since the industry is in financial distress.
https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/maharashtra-gets-governors-nod-to-start-sugar-season-from-nov-22/1769554/
News Published : Maharashtra allows sugar mills to start crushing cane from Fri
Tuesday, Nov 19
NEW DELHI – Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari today allowed sugar mills in the state to start crushing operations for 2019-20 (Oct-Sep) from Friday, state's Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad said.
While the sugar commissionerate had recommended Nov 25 as the date for start of crushing cane, Shetkari Sahakari Sangh had requested for a date before that, Gaikwad said.
"…because Gujarat and Karnataka have started making sugar and they (Shetkari Sahakari Sangh) feel that labourers would be sitting idle," Gaikwad said.
Traditionally, a ministerial committee headed by the chief minister consults the sugar commissionerate and the industry in September and decide on a date from when mills can start operations, which is usually after Diwali.
The process was delayed this season as a government could not be formed in the state after the recent elections threw a hung assembly. The state is currently under the President's Rule.
Of the total 195 mills in the state, only 105 mills have issued licences to crush cane so far.
The state is likely to produce less sugar this season due to low availability of cane following drought last year and heavy rainfall in late July and October this year. This is also likely to reduce cane crushing duration to 70-80 days against the usual of 140-150 days.
Production of sugar in Maharashtra is seen falling to 5.8 mln tn from 10.7 mln tn in the last season.
http://www.cogencis.com/newssection/maharashtra-allows-sugar-mills-to-start-crushing-cane-from-fri/
Monday, November 4, 2019
News Published : Maharashtra’s Sugar Commissionerate cracks the whip to make mills pay up dues
On July 31, a judgment by India’s apex court jolted the Maharashtra government, especially the officials in the state’s Sugar Commissionerate. The Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Maharashtra State Cooperative (MSC) Bank that stated that the state government does not have a legal claim on the Rs 2,000 crore that it had given to 34 cooperative sugar mills. These 34 mills had gone defunct and when the MSC Bank sought to auction them and get back its dues, the state government wanted its dues as well. But the apex court ruled that the state government did not have its papers in order.
The background to this issue is that, in Maharashtra, governments have, since the start of the cooperative movement, invested three-times the money that promoters of a sugar cooperative mill have raised from their shareholders. But as Maharashtra’s Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad realised in July, the paperwork for this investment was inadequate. A big reason for this lacunae is the heavy political interference in the way sugar mills and indeed the whole sugar economy runs. Because many politicians also own the mills, the government has historically been lax in asserting its rights as an investor. This inefficiency eventually cost the government in the MSC Bank case.
What Gaikwad also realised was that among the 102 cooperative mills that were still in operation, another Rs 3,000 was owed to the government. And he set about to get this matter sorted.
Technically, the government’s investment was in the form of a loan which was supposed to be paid back after a definite period of time. But not only was the money never repaid, but it also was not even secured.
In an order Gaikwad gave in September, he laid out a timeline to get the matter sorted. By November, officials were to ascertain the government’s dues. Between April and May every year, the government auditors will check the status of the repayment and update the same on the land records. Mills would be intimated of their yearly repayment amount by July every year. “Failure of the mill to adhere to the repayment schedule will see action under Land revenue codes, which will allow government to take possession and auction off the properties to recover dues,” explained Gaikwad.
Monday, September 30, 2019
News Published : Maharashtra sugar mills to pay interest for delayed payment to growers
The case dates back to the cane crushing season of 2014-15, when a drastic fall in sugar prices had seen mills failing to clear the minimum Fair and Remunerative Price to growers for cane procured from them.
The order mandates compulsory payment of cane dues within 14 days of cane being produced by the farmer. Failure by the mills to do so can attract an interest of 15 per cent, something which very few mills in Maharashtra have done.
Sugar commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad on Thursday said that 20 sugar mills in Marathwada will have to pay 15 per cent interest to cane growers for their failure to clear cane payment on time for the season of 2014-15. Gaikwad gave the order while hearing a petition filed by farmer leader Pralhad Ingole. Mills controlled by the families of senior BJP ministers, including Pankaja Munde, state cooperation minister Subhash Deshmukh, as well as Congress leaders like Amit Deshmukh will be affected by this order.
The case dates back to the cane crushing season of 2014-15, when a drastic fall in sugar prices had seen mills failing to clear the minimum Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) to growers for cane procured from them. Mills had pointed out how the fall in sugar prices had made it impossible for them to pay even the FRP, as a bumper crop had upset the supply and demand situation. Ingole, who back then was a member of the farmers’ union Swabhimani Shetkari Sangthana, had moved a petition before the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court to ask mills to clear their cane dues, as well as pay farmers the 15 per cent interest due to them as per the Cane Control Order of 1966.
The order mandates compulsory payment of cane dues within 14 days of cane being produced by the farmer. Failure by the mills to do so can attract an interest of 15 per cent, something which very few mills in Maharashtra have done.
The High Court had asked the then sugar commissioner to take a decision regarding the matter, who had said that the cane dues were cleared, but had not taken a decision regarding the payment of the interest. Ingole, who had joined the Shiv Sena, had again moved the High Court, which had asked the sugar commissioner to take a decision.
Regarding Gaikwad’s 18-page order, mills argued that payment of interest would result in laborious calculations, which they said was not feasible. It was also pointed out that they had cleared the cane dues despite financial pressure and that in some cases, the mills had paid more that than the FRP.
However, Gaikwad, in his order, refused to accept the argument of financial distress, as the state government had extended soft loans to the mills. While accepting that calculation of interest for individual farmers would be laborious, Gaikwad pointed out how feasible it would be, thanks to the usage of computers. In his order, Gaikwad asked the mills to submit their calculation of individual farmer dues within 30 days, and said that the regional joint directors of sugar and mills will be asked to pay interest within three months of the order.
Ingole, who is now with the Shiv Sena, welcomed the order and said it will result in over Rs 700 crore in way of interest being paid to farmers. However, Jaiprakash Dandegaonkar, president of Maharashtra State Cooperative Sugar Factories Federation, said the order will set a bad precedence, as calculation of interest is not feasible. “We will seek legal recourse to challenge the order,” he said.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
News Published : Maharashtra: A bureaucrat demystifies legal jargon for the common man
The Indian Express :
Gaikwad’s interest in land laws dates back to the late 1980s when he was a young Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) of Kagal taluka of Kolhapur district.
Shekhar Gaikwad (left) with the then Chief Minister Narayan Rane at the release of his book about land mutation in Maharashtra. (Express)
Sugar Commissioner of Maharashtra Shekhar Gaikwad wears multiple hats. When he is not busy trying to get sugar mills to pay the farmers their dues, Gaikwad tries to untangle the complex land laws of the state. In fact, over the years, his books have become the Bible for the farmers in the state. It is not uncommon to see farmers taking the help of Gaikwad’s book while arguing their cases in the revenue courts.
Gaikwad’s interest in land laws dates back to the late 1980s when he was a young Sub Divisional Officer (SDO) of Kagal taluka of Kolhapur district. He came across a dispute that had been going on for 80 years. The case — in which two farmers were fighting for the legal ownership of 1.46 acres of land — had even reached the Supreme Court on two occasions. “As a young officer, I was stumped. Why would these farmers fight for so long over a piece of land,” he recounts. So he asked both the parties. The answers were an eye-opener for Gaikwad and made him decide to take up the onerous task of trying to unravel and simplify the tangled world of land rights.
“It was a case of encroachment – the party that was defending its right freely admitted that it had encroached on the land and was growing sugarcane on it. From the annual yield of 80 tonnes, this farmer paid half to his lawyer and kept the case going even as the original owner of the land continued to fight the case as he had promised his father on the latter’s death bed,” explains Gaikwad. It was a deadlock and the only ones making money were the lawyers. The case made Gaikwad want to simplify land laws.
His books, which have gone into multiple editions, both in English and Marathi, have over the years become the ready reckoner for farmers, litigants and even revenue officers of the state. What differentiates Gaikwad’s books from the tomes on land laws is that they are presented in a very different manner. “Interaction with farmers showed me that instead of an academic approach, they would prefer a situational approach to their problems,” he says. Thus the books present situations and their legal solutions in a simple storytelling format. Other than the 25 major land laws of Maharashtra, the books draw information from various government resolutions and judgments with regards to land laws.
Saturday, July 6, 2019
News Published : “Sugar Conference 2020” commences in Pune to deliberate on sustainability of the sugar industry
Sugar Conference 2020 organised by Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank commences today at Westin Hotel Pune. The convention aims to encourage an open dialogue between policy makers and stakeholders from the Indian Sugar Industry for a better and sustainable tomorrow for the sector. The conference is a 3 day power packed event of sessions and panel discussions by stalwarts of the industry.
The inaugural ceremony has been graced by dignitaries like Shri.Vidyadhar Anaskar, Shri.Satish Soni, Shri.Shekhar Gaikwad, Shri.Sanjay Khatal, Shr.Sanjay Bhende, Shr.Ajit Deshmukh.
Several prominent companies like Spray Engineering Devices Ltd, Mega Engineering, S.S.Engineers, Manas & CIAN Agro Industries and Infrastructure, Excel Engineers and Consultants serving the sugar industry have marked their presence as exhibitors to this mega gathering.
Monday, June 10, 2019
Monday, March 25, 2019
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
Monday, February 18, 2019
News Published : ‘Expect the season to end with less than 10 per cent cane dues’
The Indian EXPRESS : Monday February 18, 2019
In an interview with The Indian Express, state Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad talks about the various means the department has devised to address the issue of dues and other problems plaguing the sugar industry.
Source :
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/expect-the-season-to-end-with-less-than-10-per-cent-cane-dues-5587808/
Monday, January 21, 2019
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